John Lutter:
As a long-time forum user, its truly my pleasure to be able to help sponsor this great forum.

I realize that some of you may not know who I am, or my history, so I wanted to post a quick (or not, since I tend to over-share) rundown of where I come from.

I started serious kiteflying (stunt kites) back in 1993. I had stumbled upon a small stunt kite being sold at a Champs Sports here in Central Florida, and got hooked. This was before the World Wide Web was available to most people, so in order to find a kite shop, I had to go to the phone book and look for a store near me. That happened to be Krazy Kites in Orlando Florida. Here I met Randall Lum and his group of kiteflyers that would go flying in an empty field behind the Magic Funhouse (anyone remember those days?)

I moved to the D.C./Northern Virginia in 1997, and while I was just starting my career in web development, I looked up the Wings over Washington (WoW) kite club and flew with them a couple of times.

But then 9/11 happened. As with many people, I started taking a closer look at my life and what I was devoting my time to. I started flying kites again starting with a "Freedom Fly" being held by the folks of WoW... That got the addiction rolling again, and I never quite stopped.

That was when I started KiteStop.com. At first it was just an Emag where I could post what was happening in the world of kites as I saw it. I started attending festivals all over the east coast, photographing the event for my site. I met many kiteflyers along the way and eventually got involved with the kite industry after attending a KTAI Trade Show in Florida (2001).

I became a "professional" kiteflyer in 2004, when I started working with Kiteman Production at Sea World. They would strap me to the back of a Sea-Doo and I would fly big 16-ft Delta Stunt kites and 6-ft Diamond stacks around the lagoon in the "Fusion" show. As a flyer for Kiteman, I've flown around cruise ships, in shopping centers, in the middle of the World's Largest Fireworks Show in Kuwait, and a ton of other little gigs where I've met many MANY wonderful kite people.

It has been a wonderful adventure so far, and I hope to keep at it as long as I possibly can.

Thanks for reading,

chilese:
Welcome to the Forum.

And thank you for helping to keep the Forum running with a sponsorship.

With your long time involvement in kiting, I look forward to your

inputs on a variety of subjects.

I'd particularly like to hear some of your stories which must have occured